Posted!

Join the Conversation

Comments

Welcome to our new and improved comments, which are for subscribers only.
This is a test to see whether we can improve the experience for you.
You do not need a Facebook profile to participate.

You will need to register before adding a comment.
Typed comments will be lost if you are not logged in.

Please be polite.
It's OK to disagree with someone's ideas, but personal attacks, insults, threats, hate speech, advocating violence and other violations can result in a ban.
If you see comments in violation of our community guidelines, please report them.

A late start, an unexpected write-in campaign, the death of the mother of one candidate. It's been an odd race for the Republican nomination for governor.

Voters will decide in Tuesday's primary election which candidate will represent the Republican Party in this November's election against two-term incumbent Democrat Peter Shumlin.

The winner faces daunting prospects against Shumlin, who has more money, better name recognition and a more robust political party behind him. But after four years in office, Shumlin faces questions involving the state's handling of a new health-insurance exchange and about his plans for a government-financed health coverage system.

Republicans, meanwhile, still are trying to gain their footing, find their voice and arm wrestle their way through their differences.

With the highest-profile candidate waiting until the deadline to declare, a trio of unconventional candidates had a wide opening to edge their way into the race and snare some of the attention. None of them has ever held elected office.

Business owner Scott Milne of Pomfret, the candidate who has the support of most of the party establishment, finds himself fending off retired marketer Steve Berry, who describes himself as the "modern-day Mark Twain" for his resemblance to the author; Emily Peyton of Putney, who has run twice as an independent and is admittedly not a Republican; and Dan Feliciano, a Libertarian seeking write-in votes in the Republican primary.

Republican candidate for governor Steve Berry.
(Photo:
Courtesy
)

That's not the way the Republican Party would have drawn up the game plan if party leaders had had their druthers. "They can't really afford to be this disunited," said Eric Davis, a retired Middlebury College political-science professor.

The race has been chaotic, but in the past couple weeks, the contest also has started showing signs of solidifying.

When Scott Milne considered running for governor earlier this year, he said he would enter the race if he could find a way to articulate a strong message that the state was headed in the wrong direction and have fun doing it.

It's been harder to articulate the message and has likely been less fun than he imagined, particularly given the unexpected death of his mother, former state Rep. Marion Milne, two weeks ago.

Last week, though, he launched more than $20,000 worth of television ads and held a teleconference where he took questions from voters, both of which featured former Republican Gov. Jim Douglas, whom he described as a political hero of his, going to bat for him. He also planned a mailing to several thousand likely Republican voters.

"The wind is at our backs and blowing hard in the face of the current administration for the mistakes they've made," Milne said in an interview last week.

Milne faced criticism from some for his unwillingness to dismiss Shumlin's government-financed health coverage plan as unworkable and his declaration that he would take 60 days to listen to voters before coming out with detailed platforms. Milne was unapologetic, saying that taking a more measured approach is exactly what he would offer as governor.

His hesitation, however, has given Libertarian Feliciano a platform to mount his write-in campaign. Berry also took a swipe Friday at Milne during a debate on Vermont Public Radio. While noting that Milne likely will win the primary, Berry said, "I just don't think you have the gumption, the fire in the belly and the wisdom."

Milne said that after talking to advisers with expertise, he'll come out with specific platforms on the economy and health care after the primary. It's a strategy that assumes few voters are paying attention yet and that Milne will win the primary.

"We've been pretty consistent that we were going to spend the summer, i.e. until September, listening to folks. I've learned a lot," he said. "We decided what we didn't want to do is make mistakes. We'll have a good message that I'm a much better choice for Vermont."

Milne started stepping up his profile with TV ads last week, which cost him about half of the money he's raised so far. He reported having raised $42,790 through Aug. 18, the highest among those seeking the Republican nomination but far behind Shumlin's $1.1 million and lagging a pace to meet his own $200,000 goal. Milne said he expects to raise money at a faster pace after the primary and has three fundraising events set for September.

Milne also turned up his criticism of Shumlin last week. "I think he's a bad governor. I would argue he's the worst governor we've had in 52 years," Milne said in an interview.

Those criticisms of Shumlin center on lagging jobs growth, the lack of a plan to tackle rising property taxes, Shumlin's unwillingness to disclose plans for a proposed first-in-the-nation government-funded health coverage system and the rocky roll-out of Vermont Health Connect, the state's new health-care exchange that has been plagued by technical difficulties that have made sign-up and payment difficult for some of those trying to obtain health insurance through the exchange.

Room for a write-in

While Milne is critical of Shumlin's unwillingness to reveal how he would pay for a government-financed health coverage system or how it would work, Milne has yet to entirely denounce the concept. That's got him in hot water with some Republicans and opened the door to Libertarian Feliciano, who has denounced the plan. Feliciano also argues that could cut 10 percent from the state budget through efficiencies, though he said he would be uinable to say where until he looked more closely at agency budgets.

Feliciano, of Essex Junction, said he's been surprised by the interest his position attracted from Republicans. "I cannot believe the outpouring of support I've received," he said. "I never would have expected this in a thousand years."

Feliciano, who has a background in business efficiency, tried just before the candidate filing deadline to amass enough signatures to get on the Republican primary ballot, but he fell short. After that, he launched a write-in campaign in the Republican primary that depends on voters disregarding the three names on the ballot and adding his name instead.

Milne said of Feliciano's write-in campaign, "If he wanted to be the Republican nominee, he should've gotten on the Republican Party ballot. He wasn't able to get 500 signatures on the ballot."

Feliciano spent nearly $7,000 on radio ads, part of which explain to voters how to write his name on the ballot.

His push for the Republican nomination has given Feliciano, who ran for governor four years ago as an independent, a higher profile. It also has put him in unfamiliar territory as he travels the state to attend Republican events. Like Milne, Feliciano attended the Republican Party's fundraising boat cruise last week. His fellow passengers were cordial, he said, but not entirely embracing.

"Of course, they were standoff-ish. No one wanted to be seen talking to me," Feliciano said.

Feliciano's Aug. 18 campaign finance report showed he had just five supporters who contributed more than $100, in addition to the $10,000 he's contributed himself. Feliciano said last week that more people have said they'll support him since then.

"It's an issue of coming out in public and supporting me," he said. "They're afraid to be attacked."

Feliciano has the support of a few high-profile members of the Republican Party, an indication of the continuing tussle over the more moderate direction of the party, which last year elected a new chairman. Among Feliciano's biggest champions is Darcie Johnston, who ran Randy Brock's unsuccessful campaign for governor two years ago and was unhappy with the party's new direction.

Brady Toensing, the party's vice chairman, also said Saturday that he's backing Feliciano. "I'm simply supporting the best-prepared and the best-qualified candidate to take on Peter Shumlin," Toensing said. Wendy Wilton, who lost the race for state treasurer two years ago, has come out in support of Feliciano after initially contributing to Milne's campaign.

Uncomfortable connections

Emily Peyton had no experience attending Republican events until this spring, when she filed to run in the party's primary. It was a little like visiting another planet for someone who readily fits the description of a hippy, who advocates for building houses of hemp and who said she considers the greatest enemy to the people "the corporate empire."

"It's been marvelously interesting and entertaining to see what the Republicans think of liberals," she said. "They think liberals want more taxation and more government and that they don't work very hard. Everybody's working hard. Everybody wants lower taxes and more prosperity. Republicans don't have the corner on that."

Running in a major-party primary has given Peyton the stage she was looking for. She's been invited to more debates, received more media attention. One day last week she traveled from her home in Putney to interviews in Middlebury, Burlington and St. Albans before going to a debate with Berry and Feliciano in Essex (which Milne declined to attend). She skipped the Republican boat cruise as too expensive.

There have been drawbacks to being in the Republican primary, too, she said: "It's been a mistake in some regards. I have acquaintances who cringe when they see me who used to say hello."

When the primary is over, after a break, she is looking forward to shifting her message to the overall voter. She hopes to attract those opposed to hydraulic fracturing and wind turbines and those who support legalization and use of hemp and marijuana. "I'd really love support from the left," she said.

Three candidates — Scott Milne, Emily Peyton and Steve Berry —are on the ballot for the Republican nomination for governor in Tuesday's primary election and a fourth — Dan Feliciano — is seeking write-in votes for the nomination: